Bulletproof
by Eaten Alive By Boredom
Summary: AH. A single person can change a lot over the span of three years. Especially if you haven't seen your friends within most of that time period. He just wasn't the same anymore. His smile, his laugh, his personality; it was all so different. They just want to know why. Why did he change? What happened while he was gone? [OOC TK]
1. Prologue

**_As I said on my profile, I did indeed post "Bulletproof" in late May. So, since "There For You" is currently being rewritten and "Bored With Me?" is on hiatus, I bring you this terrible attempt at OOC TK with somewhat of an alternate history (well, not so much with the prologue, he's just a crybaby here. Ha! Sorry, not sorry!). Anyhoo, enjoy the story!_**

* * *

_A single person can change a lot over the span of three years. Especially if you haven't seen your friends within most of that time period. He just wasn't the same anymore. His smile, his laugh, his personality; it was all so different. They just want to know why. Why did he change? What happened while he was gone?_

* * *

**Prologue:**

TK was upset. Everyone knew it. None of them knew why. He just seemed upset. He hadn't muttered a word since the group arrived and claimed the biggest table there—despite the other digidestined's attempts to make him. He hadn't smile, or even laughed, either—despite Davis's many, _many_ tries at getting him to. He stared at the table almost the entire time they were there—only looking up long enough to see what was being said about him. He was constantly checking his phone, texting his mother at least three time in the last ten minutes—even after Matt told him to put it away. And worst of all, he hadn't _touched _his bowl of ice cream—so unlike his usual self, normally he would have scarfed the delicious frozen treat down without any hesitation. But this time was different, he hadn't even taken a single bite of it.

This was a celebration; TK shouldn't be sad. After all, they had just beaten MaloMyotismon.

"TK, is everything okay?" Matt's words pulled the younger blond from his trance, causing him to look his brother in the eye. Matt noted how his usually cheerful blue eyes seemed dull and saddened. He noted the frown on his little brother's face. He also noted how he looked back down at his bowl of untouched sweets almost as quickly as he looked up at Matt.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." TK's eyes followed the swirls he'd been creating with his spoon in the bowl of frozen treat, flickering up at the group long enough to see them still staring at him before looking back down. "Could you guys quit staring at me? It's kinda creepy."

"TK, just tell us what's going on." TK's eyes looked up at Matt pleadingly. It was obvious he didn't _want_ to say it.

Patamon—jumping off his human's hat-covered head and landing on the table next to the bowl of ice cream—decided to speak up for the first time since they had arrived. "You're gonna have to tell them sooner or later TK. The sooner, the better."

"Tell us what TK?" Yolei's smile began to fade as she realized how serious Patamon's tone of voice was. Now she was starting to worry.

TK averted his gaze from his digi-friend to his lap as he pulled his phone out, checking it for the hundredth time today. He slowly looked back up his friends, forcing a smile on his face. "Don't worry about it." The fake smile wasn't very believable considering the boy looked back down just as he finished speaking.

"TK—"

"It's nothing, okay?" he snapped, glaring up at the speaker who, in response, ended up cowering behind Kari.

TK looked back down yet again. "I'm sorry Tai, I didn't mean to snap." He paused to release the sigh he was unknowingly holding in. "It's just—I—I've just got a lot on my mind right now."

"It's okay TK, I'm sure you meant no harm." Tai sent him a reassuring smile, hiding his current thoughts of how scary said blond can get when he snaps.

Matt placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, causing the younger boy to look him right in the eye. "Please, just tell us what's wrong." Though both blonds knew he wasn't referring to the whole group; he'd most likely would've said "please, just tell _me_ what's wrong" if there weren't so many digidestined crowded around them.

TK opened his mouth to speak, but only the sound of his breathing was heard, so he ended up closing it instead of talking as he looked away from Matt again.

He felt Patamon's tiny paw set itself on his arm, as if the guinea pig-like creature was offering his support to the troubled human. He blue eyes met TK's as the small digimon nodded with reassurement.

TK released another sigh; he had to do this. He _had_ to tell them before it was too late.

"I-I'm m-move—" He cut himself off and looked back down at his lap. He swallowed, taking in a deep breath before looking back up again. He wanted to tell them. He _needed_ to tell them. But he just couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to do it.

"You're _what_ TK?" Ken questioned, leaning forward as he propped his chin on his hands—not out of boredom; but rather out of interest. The ebony-haired boy was curious to what the blond was trying to say, as was everyone else present.

"Mom got a promotion," TK managed to blurt out, his eyes trained on his lap.

"Well that's great!" Matt smiled, patting his brother on the back.

TK shook his head, letting his blond hair fall in his face as it just fell shy from covering his eyes. He couldn't look at them. "S-she got transferred..." His voice trailed off on its own.

Sora raised an eyebrow at his weakened tone. "Where to?"

TK buried his head in his hands as his eyes sealed themselves shut. He couldn't even look at them. This was an easy task to perform, but he was making it so hard.

Once again, Patamon's paw was resting on TK's arm and Matt rubbed circles on the younger blond's back.

He could do this!

...

No he couldn't!

He knew he should've just stayed home today.

"It's okay TK, just tell us."

_It's okay, just tell us..._

_Just tell us..._

_Tell us!_

Their voices rang in his head, but he couldn't bring himself to say those simple words he needed to say to them.

His eyes sealed shut yet again as he covered his face with his hands. He knew they were starting to water. But he wasn't crying. Nope! He wasn't going to cry in front of them. There was just something in his eye. Yeah! He wasn't going to cry, his eye was just being irritated by something.

"We're moving to France." His voice finally cracked.

A shock-driven silence fell upon the group of digidestined.

Did they even hear him right?

He was _moving_ to _France_?

Or at least _back_ to France...

Davis swore the world was against him today. One of his best friends was now leaving to go to a foreign country on a completely different continent. That just wasn't fair! And they had just beaten MaloMyotismon too! Sure he and TK had their disagreements at times, but he wasn't ready to part with him yet. He still had to beat him at a game of basketball. He still had to win Kari over!

The unsettling silence made matters worse for TK, he was trying so hard to cry—Wait! my bad, he just has "something in his eye"—but the sound of him sniffling made it very evident that he was fighting that urge to.

he felt like such a crybaby...

Matt pulled the younger blond into an awkward side hug, offering his reassurance.

"When do you leave?" Joe asked, concerned for his younger friend.

"N-next week." TK choked back the tears—from the "something is in eye"—as he looked back down at his lap once again.

"That close, huh?" Yolei said her thoughts aloud. "That barely gives us any time to to _anything_."

TK didn't respond; he knew that if he spoke, he'd only end up losing it and just start crying...

He thought he was acting like a crybaby right now.

He knew he'd come back someday. He always did. So why was he getting so worked up over it?

But it seemed like he couldn't live in Japan for a full year without moving back to France.

Why couldn't he just stay with Matt? Then he wouldn't have to move, he'd still go to the same school, and he'd still be with his friends.

Who was he kidding? That would never happen...

He'd just have to leave again; he'd just have to leave everything behind and start back over again.

TK blink back tears, he wasn't going to win this fight...

"I'm gonna go to the bathroom," The younger blond excused himself, standing up and pushing in his chair before walking towards the door for the restroom.

Who knew how long the boy was in there for; ten minutes, maybe twenty. But he didn't seem to be coming back soon.

The digidestined sat in silence until Matt finally gained their attention by clearing his throat and speaking as he stood up from his seat.

"I'm gonna go talk to him." Not another word was said as they stared at the older blond before he too disappeared behind the restroom door.

"Teeks?" Matt slowly closed the door behind him, trying not to make any loud sounds. His eyes scanned over the room before settling on the boy sitting on the dusty floor next to the sink; his knees were pulled to his chest as he rested his forehead against his folded arms. The older blond slowly stumbled across the assumably empty room and took a seat on the floor next to his brother was he put and arm around him and pulled the boy close to his chest, allowing the last of his tears to soak Matt's shirt.

Seconds turned to minutes.

Those minutes soon turned to half an hour.

For that half hour, the two boys sat in near silence, only the sound of TK's occasional sniffle was heard.

God, how TK felt like such a crybaby right about now...

"It's truly hard to believe that after all this, you're moving back to France..." TK's eyes found his lap as Matt trailed off from his statement, finally speaking up.

"I know." TK's voice sounded hoarse, it was still adjusting back to normal after he last half hour of crying. "You'd think that we'd get to stay for at least a year before going back this time."

"Apparently not. I mean, you only transferred in towards the beginning of the school year. You didn't even get to finish the second term."

TK let out a hoarse laugh, somehow finding humor in not staying in Japan for a full six months before moving back again. "Yeah, and I was just getting used to the schools here. The year levels in France are _way_ different than the Japanese ones."

"At least you'll be in an actual house." Matt laughed along with TK. "No more crummy apartment."

"No more crummy apartment," TK repeated Matt's words.

"Unlike me..."

"Unlike you," TK mocked Matt fake sadness before adding: "It sucks to be you."

"Yeah." Matt sighed. "Welcome to my life."

"Will you quit quoting Canadian bands already?" TK laughed once again. Even though the songs Matt had a habit of quoting were in English, the bands themselves weren't half bad. And after a long and hard effort, the older blond managed to translate most of their lyrics into Japanese (courtesy of Google translate and a few Japanese to English dictionaries). TK had to admit, it was fun watching Matt attempt it and then give up and use Google. After all, Google was a man's best friend.

"What can I say? I'm one of those melodramatic fools." TK shot Matt a look as he laughed and spoke again. "What? You said quit quoting _Canadian_ bands, you said nothing about _American_ bands."

"Whatever, they both speak English; last time I checked, that wasn't Japanese."

"When did language become a factor in determining whether the band is decent or not?"

"It isn't, I was just saying." TK laughed, for some reason he wasn't that upset anymore. Maybe it was joking about English-speaking bands that brought up the mood, or maybe it was spending a bit of time with Matt again. Yeah, that was it. They hadn't spent any together since the first time the went to the Digital World (Mainly because after that saga was over, TK moved to France.).

Wow, four years, huh?

That's a long time...

"Hey TK," Matt spoke up after a long, comfortable moment of silence.

"Yeah?"

"Be sure to tell Grandma and Grandpa I say hi when you go. I don't know when I'll be able to visit you guys."

"So you're going to come and visit?" Hope shined in TK's blue eyes as the excitement showed in his voice.

The older blond nodded. "I will."

"Do you promise?"

"Of course."

"Do you pinky promise?"

"What are you, twelve?"

TK shot him a glare.

"Oh yeah, you are..."

TK still glared at him. "You _forgot_ my age?"

"Your birthday's in, like, a month, does it really matter? You'll be thirteen then." Matt attempted to reason, he only "forgot" his age; in reality, he was only picking on his younger brother.

TK huffed in reply, obviously not amused.

Matt quickly changed the subject, avoiding TK's wrath as he stood. "We should probably head back to the table. I'm sure the other's are getting worried or something."

"Yeah, you're right." TK too pushed himself off the dusty bathroom tile, dusting the dirt from his jeans. He began his way towards the exit, but Matt stopped him, grabbing ahold of his wrist. TK looked at the older blond questioning as the boy reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled something out. He held it tightly in his hand, before placing it on TK's now open palm and closing the younger's hand round it.

"Just so you'll have something to remember me by," Matt explained.

TK slowly reopened his palm and examined the small thing object his brother put there. He looked back up at the older blond. "But, isn't this your luck guitar pick?"

Matt nodded. "I want you to have it, so if you ever get lonely, you can think of me."

"But I don't have anything to give to you."

"It's alright." Matt started for the door, pulling TK along with him. He smirked and looked down at him. "Your skateboard is still at my apartment."

TK stopped long enough to glare, but still continued walking with him. "You better not break it." He grumbled, indirectly telling Matt he could have it.

"You have such little faith in me 'Keru." Matt used his old nickname for TK. He pulled his little brother close to him as the walked back towards the table of digidestined, who just happened to all be in their own individual conversations.

"So," Matt started as he slid into his claimed chair at the over-sized table, TK taking the seat next to him. "What'd we miss?"

"A lot." Mimi laughed as she wanted to explain, but failed to as she continued to laugh some more.

"For starters," Cody began explaining for the incapable bearer of sincerity. "Davis and Yolei decided to have an ice cream eating contest. Which would explain why they're both in the corner complaining about a double brain freeze."

"What? And I missed it?" TK laughed, finally about to enjoy himself for the first time since they all arrived.

But even though things seemed fine; from that day on, TK just wasn't the same anymore...

* * *

**EABB.**


	2. Different

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon.**

**_Okay, here's were the OOCness begins! Oh! And this takes place three years after the prologue. Just to get rid of any _****_confusion now..._**

**_A big thank you to _Digidestined Ninja of Sunshine_ for editing this chapter. _**

**WARNING! Foul language and uh...well, it'll be explained before the chapter is over.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Different**

_Beep, beep, beep, beep—!_

A hand _slammed_ down on the alarm clock beside the bed, practically murdering the poor device as silence soon filled the room...

_Beep, beep, beep, beep!_ The second alarm clock across the room with the sole purpose to make him actually get out of bed went off.

TK groaned, pulling one of the many blankets over his head in an attempt to prevent the sunlight peeking through the blinds from shining in his eyes. Burying himself deep into the warmth of his soft comforter, the blond desperately tried to ignore the obnoxious noise of the annoying alarm clock on the other side of his bedroom.

_Beep, beep, beep, beep!_

Getting out of bed was one of the hardest things TK ever had to do in his life; even harder than his math homework—that is, if he actually _did_ his math homework. His bed was just too damn comfortable in the mornings. Why couldn't he just stay there all day and sleep? It seemed logical to him. If your mattress was comfy, you should sleep on it. He didn't want to go to school anyway. After all, nobody he knew liked school... well, except for maybe Izzy... and Joe...

But he hadn't seen them in ages, so why did it matter?

_Beep, beep, beep, beep!_

"Patamon, turn that shit off..." TK mumbled into his pillow, causing it to sound more as if he was saying "Patamo, tur thassss shiahh..." rather than what he had actually said.

Patamon dug deeper into the nest of bedding before talking back with: "Do it yourself, Stupid..." which sounded more along the lines of: "Dew eh youshelf, Shuupeh..."

"I don onna..." Again, his pillow deliberately changed his words around, making them somewhat difficult to comprehend. Even though Patamon could clearly understand. His small black foot collided with TK's face several times; _eventually_ pushing the blond—and the bedding—off the comfort of the twin-sized bed and onto cold, wooden floor, only managing to keep a single blanket on for himself.

_Beep, beep, beep, beep!_

"Just turn the darn clock off; it's hurting my ears." Patamon stood on his hind legs, using his front paws to cover his large, _over-sized_ orange ears.

"Don't you mean wings?" TK laughed, sitting up in the pile of bedding. Though he wasn't quite sure how Patamon managed to _kick him off_ the bed. The digimon only had tiny limbs, it seemed quite difficult for someone that small to pull off.

The guinea pig-based digimon sent a glared towards his human. "I am not Dumbo, TK."

"I don't know about that, you would make a pretty great elephant." The blond smirked.

"I'm _not_ from a freaking Disney movie!" Patamon yelled, balling his paws into fists...

_Beep, beep, beep, beep!_

...And quickly uncurling them to cover his large ears once again, extending his human's name as he pleaded for the painful noise to stop. "_Teeeeeeekaaaaaaay_! Turn it _off_!"

"Okay, okay." TK laughed, finally using the bed frame to finally pull himself off the floor. He made his way across his new bedroom over to the dresser, picking the alarm clock up mere seconds before smashing it to the ground and causing a few springs to appear through it's newly formed cracks.

"TK, that's not what I meant..." Patamon stared, dumbfounded, at his human, but then again, he should have expected that. This was TK after all. "That's the fourth clock you've broken. You know your mom won't buy you anymore, right?"

TK was silent for a moment, staring at his partner before muttering a simple: "Shit." His tone changed to one of complaint. "Why didn't you tell me that _before_ I killed the damn clock?!"

"It's common sense, Stupid..."

"Why do you always call me stupid?"

"'Cause you're stupid."

"I am not!"

"Whatever." Patamon curled himself deep into the one blanket left on the bed. TK rolled his eyes. This was their typical morning routine; the alarm goes off, neither one of them turn it off, TK breaks it, Patamon calls him stupid, TK complains, they fight about it, then they're best friends again.

It's just a real messed up friendship if you ask... well, if you ask anyone.

After a moment of staring at his bed, TK walked through the opened bathroom door connected to his bedroom. He flicked the light on and began the rest of his morning routine. He started with brushing his teeth and fixing his hair—which was beginning to cover over his eyes, meaning it was getting long again and his mother would soon _force_ him to get it cut.

After finishing up in the bathroom, he stared into the mirror. The blue eyes in his reflection copied the exhausted look plastered upon TK's face; he was tired.

Maybe he should stop sneaking out after midnight and actually get some sleep...

_Buuuuut_, there's no fun in that, now is there?

His attention turned from his tired expression to his exposed torso as he decided to finally get dressed. After all, he couldn't exactly go to his first day of school in a pair of sweatpants and no shirt. That's against the ruled and his mother wouldn't allow such a thing anyway. He made his way to his unorganized closet—that he hadn't had the time to put everything away yet—and grabbed a random t-shirt, pulling it over his head before searching around for the box filled with his clothing.

"Patamon, where did I put my box of clothes?" The blond turned to his bed just as an orange ear pulled itself from the warmth of the single blanket surrounding him. TK's eyes followed the direction it pointed, landing on the floor beside the closet door. He mentally facepalmed when he realized the box was in plain sight.

That was always the best place to hide something from him.

He slowly began digging through the unorganized box of clothing, randomly pulling things out and looking them over before throwing each article of clothing over his shoulder.

"Hey!" Patamon complained as half the box was now a top of him. "Watch where you throw things, will ya?"

"Sorry." TK chuckled, finally settling on a pair of skinny jeans. He slipped off his sleepwear—tossing the sweats aside—and quickly slid his legs into the dark pants. Moving over to the bed, the blond sat down and put on a random pair of socks he had thrown from the now half-emptied box. He looked around the room; he'd only lived in this place for two days and his room was already a mess. TK sighed. "I really need to clean up a bit."

He heard Patamon laugh from within the blanket curled around him. "I'll say." His voice was slightly muffled but clearly understandable.

Sighing once more, TK stood up and put on his dark jacket. He grabbed a few "necessary" items and shoved them into the inside pocket of the jacket before slinging his backpack over his shoulders and walking towards his bedroom door. He waved to Patamon, already knowing that he couldn't see it curled up like he was. "See you after school."

He only got a muffled groan in response.

Slowing walking down the hall and down the stairs, he stepped into the kitchen/living area, hoping to go by unnoticed by his grandmother. But his efforts failed as she looked him right in the eye and scowled.

"Takeru, you better take that thing out of you mouth before _je la déchirer dehors_." TK rolled his eyes at his grandmother's sudden change in language as she told him she would rip it out. If you weren't normally over, the mash of Japanese and French could be really confusing.

"I'll see you after school, Grandma," TK told her in French, hoping she'd get the message. It wasn't as if he'd pierced his lip the night before—he had done it well over a month ago. He didn't understand why she was so against him. Sure, he'd went to a few parties and had come home drunk a few times while his mother was out of town, but he got grounded for it. Apparently, his grandmother still hadn't forgiven him for that.

Sometimes TK truly believed she hated him.

But that there were hundreds of reasons for why he thought that.

Slipping his shoes on his feet, TK made his way out the door and headed for the nearest bus stop.

* * *

Dropping his bag on the sidewalk beside him, the blond pulled out his cellphone and flipped it open. 7:50. Hell, he still had another ten or so minutes to wait; and from what he remembered, the buses _always_ ran late. He groaned, knowing full well he'd be waiting on the corner for a while.

His phone was turned off for various reasons; meaning no games.

Patamon stayed at home; meaning no one to talk to.

Time liked to go slow.

He was bored out of him mind.

there was absolutely nothing to do.

And it was only 7:52.

Damn, he was pretty sure he'd been standing there for more than two minutes.

Reaching into the pocket on the inside of his jacket, he pulled out a small box and a lighter. He took a thin stick out of the box, brought it to his mouth, flicked the lighter on long enough to light it, and took a long, extended drag from it as he breathed in its blissful poison.

As he exhaled the smoke, he heard footsteps slowly growing louder. His eyes found the two approaching figures; they seemed to be in some sort of conversation. He instantly recognized both of them. The shorter brunette had her hair cut shortly above her small shoulders, slightly longer then he remembered. Her arms were covered by her long-sleeved shirt. Her tanned legs were exposed doe to the ripped jeans she was wearing—ironic, considering it was the middle of January.

She really did take after her brother though.

Speaking of her brother, his wild dark brown hair made him seem half a foot taller than he actually was, the awkward blue headband kept the majority of it out of his face. Like his younger sister, he wore jeans; but unlike her long-sleeved shirt choice, he wore a simple light blue t-shirt under a warm jacket. It almost matched his headband—_almost_.

Taking another drag from his cigarette, the blond chuckled to himself. He always admired how close those two were. Was her brother protective? Of course he was, but he also allowed her the space she needed. Unlike Matt, who was constantly hovering over him.

Well, he used to...

They hadn't talked to each other in almost a year...

The blond's eyes caught hers; blue and brown meeting again for the first time in over a year and half, since his last visit. She came to a stop, gaining the attention of her older brother.

"Kari, what's wrong? Are you sick? Do I need to take you home? I'm sure Mom will take me to school is I miss the bus again." Tai's panicked voice carried.

Kari didn't answer him, instead she responded with a question of her own. "Is that..." Her voice trailed off as she squinted to get a better look at the teen. "Is that _TK_?"

The blond looked forwards, avoiding her eyes as he inhaled the last of his cigarette before dropping the bud onto the ground, smothering it.

It seemed as if she didn't notice.

"TK?" Tai finally looked at the said teen, taking in his appearance. He didn't look like TK, but at the same time, he did. Short, somewhat messy, windblown blond hair almost covered his blue eyes. But that wasn't what seemed to change. It was his attire; black jacket, black skinny jeans, black shoes. He couldn't see his shirt, but he assumed it was black as well. To Tai's perspective, he seemed to be wearing all black. "Wait," he thought aloud. "I thought you were still in France."

Tai ran over to him, almost leaving Kari behind.

He was wrong; TK's shirt was a dark blue color.

"We moved back," TK said as if it were obvious. He checked his phone for the time again. 7:57.

Why couldn't time move any faster? He was trying to _avoid_ a conversation with them.

Reaching into his jacket, he found the inside pocket and opened the box long enough to get himself another cigarette. He looked Tai right in the eye as he brought it to his mouth and lit it, already calming his nerves before they had a chance to get any worse. Normally he wouldn't smoke two in a row—sticking with one or two a day—but he was starting to get stressed and as weird as it was, he was doing this for the show of it, curious to see their reactions.

"What are you doing?" Tai's annoying voice rang through his ears.

A moment of silence occurred between them before TK blew smoke straight into Tai's face, causing the older boy to be attacked by a fit of coughs. He didn't wait long enough for brown-haired teen to catch his breath before speaking. "Pretending you don't exist."

Kari's jaw dropped slightly at the blond's response. Was this really the same TK she knew? He was acting like such an asshole now.

"That's not—" Cough. "—what I meant." Cough. "I mean—" Cough. "—why are you _smoking_ that thing?" Cough.

"Oh." TK inhaled more smoke before breathing it back out, this time having the decency to turn away from them. "Because you're annoying me. It calms my nerves."

Tai stared, silent from the blond's answer. Was TK serious? Was he _that_ annoying? Ugh, he didn't know anymore...

TK checked the time again. 8:02. The bus was late just as he predicted. _Next time I bring a book or something_, he thought as he finished his second cigarette and stomped on it before reaching into the front pocket of his backpack and pulled out a pack of gum. He took a single piece for himself and offered one to the two brown-haired teens. They each took one.

"So TK." Kari attempted to start a civil conversation with him. "How've ya been?"

He ignored her.

She tried again. "Do you know what elective courses you're taking this term?"

No response.

"Can you at least acknowledge the fact that I'm talking to you?"

Silence.

"Fine then, I'll just leave you alone." Kari huffed as the bus rounded the corner.

TK shrugged.

Kari roller her eyes at him. He was being so rude; this wasn't the TK she remembered.

"Kari, it's not worth getting upset over," Tai whispered to her before stepping onto the bus, making his way towards the back. He plopped down in his regular seat next to another person TK instantly recognized. Short, somewhat spiked red hair was kept out of his face. His black eyes followed Tai's extended finger as it pointed in TK general direction as he stepped onto the bus.

"You new?" TK's eyes found the bus' driver; an elderly-looking lady with graying hair. "I don't believe I've seen you around. What's your name, dear?"

"Takaishi."

"Well Takaishi, take a seat." She sent him a warm smile, trying to be _way_ too nice. She gestured towards the endless selection of seats. Grumbling to himself about how super nice she was being, TK made his way to an empty seat towards the middle section, the bus moving forwards before he even had a chance to sit.

The seat shifted as the weight of another person plopped down next to him. He eyed the brunette, not fully looking at her as he spoke. "I thought you said you were leaving me alone."

"I did."

"Then why are you sitting by me?"

"Because I wanted to sit here."

There was not a doubt in his mind that Kari had taken after her brother; he didn't remember her being so stubborn. Maybe he could annoy her away or piss her off. "Why?"

"Because I can."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Ugh." Kari groaned as he turned to the blond. "Why do you even care?"

"Because I can." TK turned to met her gaze, his lips curled back into a smirk.

Kari couldn't help but laugh as he stole her word choice. But her laughter was cut short when she noticed something on his lip—or perhaps, _in_ his lip. She pointed to her own lip, asking: "What's that?"

TK stared at her for a moment before speaking. "Oh, this?" He bit down on it to clarify what he was talking about.

Kari nodded.

"It's a lip ring," he said nonchalantly.

Kari stopped her mouth from falling open in shock, instead she asked: "When did you get it done?"

"A month ago."

Kari didn't have time to respond as someone else plopped down in the seat in front of them. "Hey, who's this?"

"He kind of looks familiar," another voice spoke up.

"whoever he is, he took my spot next to Kari."

TK mentally groaned; _greeeeeat_, he was seriously on the bus too. First Tai and Kari, then Izzy, and now these two.

This day just keeps getting better...

"Gee Davis, I'm _hurt_. You don't even remember me." The blond held a sarcastic frown; not even upset that he didn't remember, but the fact that TK was stuck riding the bus with them until the day he graduated high school.

"Davis, Ken, it's just—"

"Shh, Kari." TK cut her off. "Let them figure it out on their own."

"But they—"

"I wanna know if they can do it." TK smirked as Kari stopped talking all together and nodded.

"Wait." The ebony-haired boy looked TK in the eye. "You're back?"

TK nodded, acknowledging Ken's question as Davis continued to stare at them confused.

"Who's back?"

"But you look so..._different_..."

Davis' question was ignored.

"I've been told."

Ken nodded, understanding, before starting a conversation with Kari. TK took this as his chance to escape from them as he dug through his backpack and pull out a pair of headphones and hooking them up to his phone and finding a random song to play; turning up the volume to ignore the the rest of the world.

* * *

**_I hope you liked it! Tell me what you thought! Reviews are nice, but no flames please._**

**_Oh! And a shout out to _Mr. Baratheon97 _(sorry for the space, it would t let me put it otherwise),_ Mewnnee, fxckingwatermelxns, Digidestined Ninja of Sunshine, DD Leader Dark Heart of Water, Slinking Fox, Hearts Takeru, AUehara_, and _Silence of a Broken Child_ for reviewing the prologue! Greatly appreciated! :D_**

**_And to my lovely followers and peoples who faved, you guys are awesome too!_**

**EABB.**


	3. Reunited

******DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon.**

**_Just a quick heads up, this chapter isn't really in anyone's particular point of view. It kind of jumps around POVs..._**

**_Oh! And a shout out to _Digidestined Ninja of Sunshine _and_ Silence of a Broken Child _for__ being my lovely editors!_**

******WARNING! Foul language and failed attempts at writing an awkward tension!**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Reunited**

How does one manage to get sent out of class on their first day of school? Just ask Takaishi Takeru; he could write you a novel on the subject. How 'bout we take a trip back to homeroom and see just what TK did to get himself kicked out of the classroom. You see, it all started when his homeroom teacher walked into class...

* * *

"Alright class, as I've recently been made aware of, we appear to have a new student joining us today."

The previously loud room soon got rather quiet as their sensei entered the room and stood in front of his desk. He leaned back against it and readjusted his glasses as they began to slide down his nose. He crossed his arms as he scanned the crowd of students; each of the sitting at their own desk with their respective belongings, most of them beginning to work on late assignments or starting to read a book.

All but one.

Sensei stared down this unfamiliar boy sitting in the second row. His feet were propped up on the desk in front of him, his arms were crossed in a discourteous manner over his chest, and he was obviously chewing gum—which was against classroom rules. As the blond obnoxiously popped the bubble he just blew, Sensei noticed a piercing in his lip. Weren't facial piercings against school rules or something?

Sensei was sure they were, but he didn't say anything about it just yet.

The boy met Sensei's gaze with one of his own; his blue eyes shined with mischief.

"Would you care to stand up and introduce yourself to the class." Sensei motioned to the boy in the second row, though he already knew this kid would cause him nothing but trouble—his body language alone told him that.

"I'd rather not," the unfamiliar teen replied, holding his stare.

"And why not?" Sensei also held his stare. This kid thought he was so cool, didn't he? He thought he could just walk in all badass and whatnot, pretending to be super _tough _and super_ cool_ and all that super good shit. No, not on Sensei's watch. This was _his_ classroom.

"Because most of them already know who I am," the blond replied with a smirk. "Rumors spread pretty fast around here."

"That doesn't mean you can't introduce yourself. I don't know who you are." Sensei already knew he wasn't going to like this kid. "Why don't you just stand up and tell me who you are?"

"Because I don't want to."

Was this kid serious? Sensei should _not_ have to deal with such _disrespect_—especially from a _student_. He was the teacher of this classroom. He was in charge around here, not some know-it-all kid with a lip piercing. He should not be _treated_ that way.

"Can you please just stand up long enough to say your name? Then you can sit right back down."

"That's too much work." The blond groaned, gaining some laughter at his comment. "I'm _very_ lazy."

"I've noticed." Sensei was losing patience with this kid. Who did he think he was, the Kaizer? He sure as hell didn't look like one.

"Look, I'm sure you're having fun and all, thinking you're _soooo_ funny. But all you're doing is pissing me off. Now, unless you want to get kicked out of here, stand up and introduce yourself."

Sensei smiled; he was sure he had won that round. This kid would say who he was or he had to leave the classroom. Either way it's a win-win situation.

"Why don't you just call roll? Then you'll know my name."

Okay, maybe not...

Gee, this kid had a smartass comment for just about anything, didn't he?

Sensei took a deep breath, rubbing his temples as if to stop an oncoming headache from appearing. Slowly and in an irritated manner, he picked up a single sheet of paper from his desk as he sat down and began to read off each name listed. Each student replying when their respective name was called. It was when Sensei got to the T's that he finally got his answer.

"Takaishi."

Why did that name seem so familiar?

"Here."

Sensei looked up at the boy in the second row, looking the kid right in the eye.

"Takaishi," he repeated, slower this time; he knew that name from somewhere.

"I said I was here, didn't I?"

"Your name's Takaishi Takeru?" Wait a second! The blue eyes? The blond hair? The somewhat disrespectful composition? It all made sense now. A light bulb went off above Sensei's head. _Greeeeeeat_, he was stuck with the kid of that rich French guy...

Takaishi nodded.

"As is Takaishi Michel?"

"Yes sir." The blond looked down at the mention of that name, avoiding Sensei's gaze. "He was my grandfather..."

Sensei knew not to push things any further; what happened to Takaishi Michel must not be brought up around this boy. Even if it was known by almost everyone world wide.

"Hold up a second!" The boy sitting directly in front of Takaishi spoke up, turning around in his seat.

"Motomiya, you're interrupting my class _again_. One more outburst and you're out of here!"

"But I—"

"Out!"

"Dammit!"

"Language!"

And Motomiya was sent out.

Takaishi stared at the Sensei for a moment before getting up out of his seat and walking towards the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sensei raised an eyebrow.

"Out."

"Sit back down, right now!"

"Bye!"

And with that, Takaishi Takeru was gone...

* * *

Okay, TK didn't_ exactly_ get himself kicked out of class, Davis did. So if you still are wanting to buy that book, talk to Davis about it.

Anyway, the two boys ended up walking the halls for the next forty-five minutes until homeroom was over, talking about the randomest things such as Yolei's "hot" boy obsession or Cody's lack of interest in prune juice. Even Ken's F in Chemistry was brought up in the conversation—yeah, you read correctly; Ken _actually_ got an F in something.

"You know, I still can't believe you're finally back," Davis said as they came to a stop in front of the Modern Japanese classroom on the first year side of the school building; pretty much only for those in year 10 like Davis and TK themselves. Coincidentally, the two both happened to have the same first period.

"What's so hard to believe about it? My mom simply got transferred back, so we moved," TK explained to Davis as if it was obvious. He opened the door and followed Davis in, who sat in the back of the room at a random table; Ken already present there. TK sat at the same table, in the chair on the opposite side.

"It's just that, you've been gone for so long." Davis continued their earlier conversation.

"I was only gone for about three years." TK shrugged as if it were nothing to him.

"I was beginning to think you'd never come back. Especially after what happened between you and—"

Ken put a hand over Davis' mouth, signaling him to drop the subject. They knew Matt didn't like talking about what happened when he visited TK in France, and Ken was sure TK wouldn't want to talk about it either.

"So, when did Davis figure it out?" Ken dropped his hand and wiped it on his jeans before glaring at Davis for licking his hand. Davis only smiled in response. He also didn't allow TK the time to to answer the question.

"He was in my homeroom."

"I can answer for myself," TK replied coldly, sending Davis an ice-cold glare that sent a shiver down his spine; his blue eyes darkened. Davis swallowed loudly. TK then turned back to Ken and grinned. "Davis just happened to be in my homeroom."

How he did that, Davis didn't know. People don't just go from cold and scary looking to happy like that in a matter of seconds. Or at least Davis thought they couldn't. TK obviously proved him wrong.

"I was just saying; you didn't have to be such a jackass," was Davis' reply.

"Motomiya, watch what you say."

He just happened to say that when their Sensei walked in the room.

Davis grumbled something inaudible in response.

"Now class, today we'll be going into more detail about traditional Japanese and it's affect on the modern language we know today." Sensei began his lesson. "Ichijouji, would you mind sharing your textbook with our new student for the day, seeing as he's back there at your table. He'll have his own book by tomorrow."

"Yes sir."

* * *

"So then, Yolei was all like: 'Where did we park the car?' And I was like: 'In a parking spot!'" Davis explained with so much enthusiasm, he couldn't possibly be anymore enthusiastic about the story he was telling.

"Yes Davis, I know. I was there," Kari deadpanned.

"But TK wasn't!"

"I'm sure he doesn't want to hear about our latest trip to the mall."

"Actually, I've heard it five times already..." TK said with monotone.

"I'm sure he doesn't want to hear about our latest trip to the mall—_again_," Kari said as they entered the cafeteria.

"But Ken bought us pizza!"

The trio began their way to the back of the large, overpopulated room; going to sit in their normal table—despite TK's protests and comments about wanting to eat in the classroom instead. Having just gotten out of their fourth period—which they just so happened to have together—moments ago, Davis and Kari saw no real reason for their blond friend to stay in that treacherous hell hole of a French room.

"That doesn't matter. He's probably annoyed with the story," Kari stated.

"I am." Again, he spoke with monotone.

"See, you're annoying him." The brunette sent her burgundy-haired friend a look. "Now he won't sit with us."

"I'm not."

"Oh, yes you are." She grabbed onto the blond's wrist, pulling to the table with Davis lagging behind.

"Who's that?" Yolei questioned, nodding towards the random blond guy being dragged by Kari over to the table.

Sora took a bite of her salad, looking up at him as well; her and Yolei being the only two there who were clueless as to who he was. He was reasonably thin, quite tall—possibly taller than Tai('s hair)—and basically dressed in black. It gave him more of an edgy-punk kind of look.

"'At's Tee-eh," Tai said with his mouth full, putting another spoonful of the various pasta and meat sauce from his tray into his mouth before he had even swallowed the first bite.

"Who's Tee-eh?" Sora asked the brunet.

"Tai, you should really learn to swallow your food before speaking," Ken advised the older teen.

"Eh?" The bearer of courage shrugged, his words not sounding like what he said.

"Hey! Say it; don't spray it!" Izzy glared, wiping the partially chewed food off his cheek. That's the last time he sat next to the googleless gogglehead while they ate lunch.

Tai shrugged again, swallowing the food in his mouth practically whole before repeating what he had originally said. "That's TK."

Yolei almost choked at the words she had heard, spiting her milk back out to avoid a major coughing fit. Her eyes went wide. "What? That's not TK. That doesn't look like TK. There's no way _that_ can be TK!"

"Seriously?!" Izzy groaned, getting up from his seat to attempt to clean off his shirt in the nearest restroom, considering it was now covered in a mix of milk and Yolei's saliva.

"Poor Izzy, all he did was sit down." Sora shook her head as the slightly shorter red-head left the room. "Wait! How'd you know it was TK? I'm sure you didn't have any classes with him. He's a first year, you're a third year. You haven't failed _that_ many of your courses."

"Sora, have some faith in me." Tai pretended to be hurt by her comment; but it was true, he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

"He was on the bus with us," Ken informed as he took a sip from his juice.

"But, you don't ride the bus?" Yolei stated as if it was a question.

"I stayed over at Davis' last night," the ebony-haired boy explained.

"I heard my name!" Davis plopped down in the empty seat across the table from the boy who'd said his name. Kari also proceed to sit in an empty seat beside him, pulling the blond into the seat between herself and Yolei.

TK didn't make eye contact with anyone other than Kari as he spoke, avoiding everyone else there—even though they were all staring at him. "There, I sat down. Are you happy?"

"Yes." Kari smiled at him.

"Can I go back to the classroom now?"

"No."

TK groaned; she was impossible. So freaking stubborn.

"So, you're back!" Yolei's voice caused him to turn to her, his eyes were cold.

"Yeah," he said with monotone. "So?"

"It's just that—" Her coppery eyes flickered to his lips, noticing the thin loop in it. "What's this?" Her hand traveled from her lap to his face, her thumb grazing over it. The blond instantly gained a terrified look—completely opposite from his usual emotionless composure—his eyes were wide and staring at her. But she continued to slide her thumb over it, as if she hadn't seen his expression.

Well, she wasn't paying attention to that...

"Yolei, I think you're freaking him out." Kari voiced her concern, noticing his lack of movement. "People don't just randomly touch other peoples faces."

"It's just—you just—this thing—when did—"

"Can you _stop_ touching my face?" TK finally said after his moment of shock at the lavender-haired girl's sudden burst to feel his lip ring.

"But it's—"

"_Please_," he interrupted her before going back to his monotone tone of voice. "It's weird."

"Oh, right. It's weird." She pulled her hand away, blushing madly. "Sorry..."

The blue-eyed teen didn't reply after that. In fact, the whole table fell silent for a moment.

That is until Davis said: "Awkward..."

"Shut up Daisuke!"

"Ooh, my full name. I'm soooo scared _Miyako_." He emphasized her name, grinning. He knew how much she hated it when they called her that.

Yolei didn't take that comment very well.

She threw her tray of perfectly good food at him.

Davis slammed his hands down on the table, standing up as he was now covered in a mix of mashed potatoes, brown gravy, ketchup, mustard, and ten or so other random condiments that were on her tray at one point—surprisingly, neither Kari or Sora got hit by the attack. "What the hell did you do that for?!" He gritted through his teeth, glaring at her.

"Fight!" a random person at a nearby table shouted aloud, unintentionally letting the nearest sensei know about it.

"I wanted to!"

"That's not a valid reason!"

"I shouldn't need a reason; I just wanted to!"

"Why you little—" Davis started to move towards her before he was abruptly stopped by the sound of a new voice entering the conversation.

"Motomiya, Inoue, office. Now!"

Many complaints came from the near by students; including: "Aw man.", "Sensei always ruins all the fun.", and "Why can't they actually get into a fight before someone stops them?".

"Look what you did, Davis!"

"Look what I did? You started this. I was only joking around. You just _had_ to flip out about it!" The two continued to bicker, even when being escorted out of the cafeteria.

"I don't even _want_ to know." TK shook his head at the two teens.

"It's always like this." Kari sighed.

"Seriously?" TK didn't really sound surprised.

"Every day," Sora said.

"Without a doubt." Tai added.

"They're like an old married couple," Ken commented.

"Did you really just compare them to a married couple? They're practically at each others throats on a daily basis." Tai laughed at the ebony-haired teen's comment.

"Yes, I can see that. It's why I compared them to one." Ken looked down at the table, wanting to drop the subject.

"Whoa. What happened here?"

TK tensed at the sound of the new voice. He knew that voice all too well, even if he hadn't heard it in almost a year. He suddenly felt nervous; which was so unlike him. He didn't normally get so anxious. But he couldn't help it. Certain words were said then that couldn't be taken back. It just seemed so awkward to be near him now.

"Hey Matt, you'll never guess who's back!" Tai said way too excitedly, as if he didn't remember being told about that fight they'd gotten into.

The younger blond slowly looked up, meeting a familiar pair of bright blues eyes so similar to his own.

Everything around them seemed to grow silent; the constant chatter continued, but it seemed as if it had depleted.

_CLANK!_

Except for the sound of Matt's full lunch tray hitting the floor—spilling its contents on the bottoms on his pants and shoes—their table didn't utter a sound.

Seconds ticked by.

It just felt so _awkward_...

Neither one of them knew what to say.

The small group of digidestined could practically feel the tension between the two teens; it was so think, not even Omnimon's Transcendent Sword attack could slice through it.

"I, uh, I gotta go..." TK stumbled with his words as he stood, finally breaking eye contact with the older blond. He quickly shuffled out of the cafeteria to who knows where.

"Now I see why he wanted to stay back in the classroom," Kari spoke her thoughts aloud after he was gone. "He wanted to avoid this..."

Matt kept his gaze on the doorway the younger blond had exited through, trying to push back what Kari had said about his brother seemingly trying to ignore him.

But it was hard, her words stung.

It hurt.

His heart dropped.

TK was still avoiding him.

Matt unconsciously tugged the long sleeves of the jacket he was wearing; pulling the ends over his hands. His blue eyes dulled as they stayed on the exit.

It didn't matter how many times he apologized, TK wouldn't listen to him.

But then again, that was his own fault...

Returning from the restroom with a semi-clean shirt, Izzy sat down in his original seat between Sora and Tai. He noticed the messy table and floor, the addition of Matt, and the lack of Davis, Yolei, and TK.

"Why do I feel like I just missed something important?"

* * *

**_Thanks for reading! :) ...if you made it this far 'cause this chapter sucks [BLEEP]... Be sure to leave a review if _****_you liked it!_**

**_And to my lovely reviewers, _Digidestined Ninja of Sunshine, DD Leader Dark Heart of Water, AUehara, Silence of a Broken Child, ultima-owner, Slinking Fox, Mewnnee, _and a random guest who goes by the code name of savana, I give each of you a kind thank you! _**

**_And who can forget those who followed and/or faved? You lovelies get a nice warm hug! :)_**

**EABB.**


	4. Thoughts

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own Digimon.**

******_A special shout out to _Digidestined Ninja of Sunshine_ for editing this chapter and inputting a few ideas. Thank you! I'd say check out her stuff, but then she's yell at me for advertising...  
_**

**WARNING! Foul language and major coldness!  
**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Thoughts  
**

A distraction; that's all he needed.

He just needed to distract himself from his thoughts.

But it's hard to do that when all you can think about is how your little brother looked you right in the eye and then left the room as if you didn't matter to him.

To Matt, that didn't seem like TK. His brother was kind, caring, and happy-go-lucky. But this new TK was—he was just so—so—

Matt didn't even know how to describe him. He was so different and emotionless—so _cold_.

He was cold, so unlike how he used to be.

But Matt didn't understand why.

Why wouldn't TK just listen to him and accept his apology? Why couldn't things just back to how they once were? Why couldn't things be peaceful and carefree? Why couldn't things just be normal again?

Matt let his head fall onto his desk, resulting in the light sound a simple _thud_. He unconsciously slipped his thumb between his opposite wrist and a single bracelet around it, allowing it to slide over the tattered skin.

Why was TK so different?

Was it what Matt had said? Was it what happened to their grandfather? Was it what TK had said? Was it what their grandmother said? Did something else go on in France that he didn't know about—?

He felt something lightly poke against his temple, more than once. "Matt?"

"What do you want, Tai?" Matt whispered back, turning his head to the side to look at the initial speaker as he rested his cheek against the desk.

The brunet didn't answer him. Instead, he nodded towards the front of the room.

Matt then turned his attention to the front, now resting his chin on the desk.

"So nice of you to finally join us, Mr. Ishida," Sensei said. "Would you like to tell the class what the answer to number four is?"

The blond finally lifted his head off the desk, looking down at the blank worksheet laying in front of him.

Shit, he hadn't even started it...

"I, uh, haven't gotten that far."

"You've had the last fifteen minutes to work on it. You should be at least halfway through if by now."

"I, uh—"

"Save it, just see me after class."

Matt was in for it now.

* * *

"Ishida, is there something going on?" Sensei asked the blond after class had ended. The students had all filed out the classroom, so now it was just the two and they could talk in private.

"Nothing's going on, Sensei." Matt stared at the floor, pretending to be fascinated by his shoes. He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to talk about it. He just wanted to leave. "Everything's fine."

Sensei sighed. "Yamato, you and I both know that isn't true." Sensei continued when Matt refused to look up. "You've been unfocused and distracted lately, your grades are steadily dropping, you're already failing three courses, including mine—"

"Everything's _fine_, Sensei." Matt cut off his teacher, glaring at the tiled classroom floor. "I've just had a lot running through my head these last few days."

"These last few days? Yamato, this has been going on for the past few weeks!"

Matt still refused to look up.

"Look, I have another class starting soon and they'll be in here any minute. So you're off the hook for now, but if this happens again, you better expect to be getting yourself in detention."

Now Matt looked up, raising an eyebrow. "You mean I'm not in trouble?"

"Consider this your get-out-of-jail-free card." Sensei nodded his head towards the door. "Now get out of here. Passing period is almost over and I'm not writing you a pass. You have plenty of time to get to your next class."

"Yes, Sensei." Matt turned to the door.

"Oh, and Yamato?" Sensei stopped the blond from leaving.

"Yeah?"

"I hope you've been working on your history report. It's due at the beginning of class on Friday. No exceptions."

Shit, he had completely forgot about that.

"Oh, yeah. That. I'm actually almost done with it."

Obvious lie.

"I'm just gonna go now. I have to get to my next class." Matt rushed out the classroom door.

"So, what'd Sensei want?"

"Huh?" Matt was startled at the sudden presence of the speaking brown-haired teen.

Had he been waiting there the whole time Matt and Sensei were talking?

"What were you guys talking about?" Tai pressed on, noticing Matt hadn't spoken and how he had jumped a mile high.

"Oh, that. Uh, ya know. Just talking about that history report." The blond laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck. "Did you know it's due Friday? Like, _this_ Friday."

Again, obvious lie.

Matt had to get _out_ of there.

"Yeah." Tai slowly nodded. "Mine's done."

"Really?" The blue-eyed teen scanned his surroundings, searching for anything he could use as an excuse to leave.

"Yeah. Kari helped me out; I got it done last week."

"Oh."

His eyes landed on the swinging door of the male facilities.

_Riiiiing._

"Shit, if we don't hurry, we'll be tardy again." Tai started for the direction of their shared sixth period; he paused when he noticed Matt hadn't followed.

"I'll meet you there. I'm just gonna go to the bathroom."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you in class."

* * *

Maybe he should go back to class...

But if he kept getting distracted like that, he was sure to get detention.

And his dad would kill him.

Then again, skipping class will get him into even more trouble.

But he couldn't go back in there.

And he was already failing.

But he was only going to miss his sixth and seventh periods and those were his easy courses.

And he had class with Sora and Tai; they would realized the moment he didn't show up that he was skipping.

But he didn't want to go back in there, Tai and Sora would kill him for even attempting to leave before school was over.

Out of frustration, Matt slammed his hands down onto the steering wheel of his car, startled when the horn released a loud _honk_.

"Matt." He began talking to himself. "You should probably go back inside."

He started the car.

"Okay, Matt, you should _really_ go back to class now."

Put it in reverse.

"Stop the car, Matt."

Switched gears from reverse to drive.

"This _isn't_ very smart Matt—you're already_ failing_ your courses."

He was driving.

"No, _stop_ it. You _need_ to stay at school."

Now he was out of the parking lot.

"Dammit, I suck at this!"

* * *

Slamming the apartment door shut, his blue eyes scanned the living area.

"Dad?" the blond called out in vein, already knowing his father was still at work. He didn't normally make it home until around midnight; and that's just on a good day.

"I don't know why I even bother anymore." He sighed. "He's never home."

"Matt, talking to yourself isn't healthy." The blond turned his attention to the speaker, watching as duo-shaded blue fur came into view. "You're home early. Did something happen at school? Did Tai pull the fire alarm again?"

"Yeah—I mean no—yes and no. Tai didn't pull the fire alarm this time, I've just had an off day."

"So you up and left?" Gabumon's tone grew to one of concern.

Matt nodded.

"That's not a good habit to get into, Matt."

"I know, Gabumon. It's just that I really need to talk to Dad."

"What do you need to talk about? Maybe I could help." Gabumon climbed into the chair across the table from Matt, his legs being too short to just plop into it like his human partner had.

"I don't know; you're not really the best at giving advice."

"And your dad is?" Gabumon chuckled. "Even I give better advice than he does."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Matt let his head fall onto the table, resting his forehead on it as he stared down at his lap. "But I really need to talk to him."

"About what?"

Matt sighed, thinking to himself and leaving an eerie silence among the two. He should probably tell Gabumon what happened today, at least that way he would get into less trouble when his father found out he skipped the remainder of the school day—Gabumon could vouch for him.

"About TK."

Gabumon grew silent; he knew just how much of a touchy subject that was for Matt.

"He's back."

What was Gabumon suppose to say? Matt was right, advice wasn't his forte.

"Have you talk to him yet?" the wolf-like digimon asked; it was the first question that popped in his head.

"No." Matt refused to look up, continuing to stare down at his lap. "He's still ignoring me."

"Have you tried apologizing?"

That question caused Matt to glare at the digimon. "He won't listen, Gabumon. You already know that."

"That doesn't mean you can't try."

"I have tried, Gabumon. He's not going to listen."

The wolf-like digimon hopped down from the chair he was sitting on, earning a _thud_ in response to his sudden weight on the wooden floor. He trotted over to his distressed human, resting a comforting paw on his back. The blond choked back a sob, trying not to break down about it.

He hadn't broken down about it in so long...

But right then he just couldn't help himself.

It was too easy to just lose it.

The blond's voice cracked as he tried to fight against his forming tears. "He won't even listen to me..."

* * *

"So, TK?"

The said blond looked up from staring at the sidewalk, glancing towards the brunette but not staring directly at her. She stopped in front of him and looked into his eyes, though he wasn't looking into hers.

"Can I come over?"

"No," he answered without any hesitation.

"Why not?"

"I have plans."

"Seriously? You have plans? You just moved back to Japan and you _already_ have plans?" Kari questioned, half laughing.

"Yeah."

"I don't believe you."

"I have plans."

"Okay, what are these mysterious 'plans' of yours?"

"Homework." TK adjust the backpack over his shoulder before reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket. He pulled out his pack of cigarettes and lighter. He brought a single cig to his lips and lit it, putting the lighter into the box now that there was room for it to fit.

"You know, smoking is bad for you."

"I know." He exhaled its poisonous bliss, taking another drag from as he continued to watch in front of him.

"Then why do you do it?"

The blond came to a stop, debating whether or not to go into his house and avoid the question—it was his business whether he smoked, not hers—and after all, they were in front of the house. He took another drag, watching as the smoke exited his mouth when he spoke. "Look, Kar, here's my stop. I gotta go. See you tomorrow."

Kari looked up at him, almost smiling. She hadn't been called by that nickname in years; not since he had moved away—minus that one time he came to visit. She really did miss it.

"Wait." She stopped him from stepping towards his house. "Why can't I come over? There's really nothing to do at my house until Tai gets home from practice. Plus, Yolei has a computer club meeting and Davis and Ken also have practice—"

"I'm busy." The blond cut her off.

"You'll choose to do homework than hang out with me?"

"Yep." His tone was emotionless. He was emotionless.

"Seriously? You're one of my best friends. We haven't hung out in over a year!"

"Can you just go home?" He acted as if he was _wanting_ to avoid her. "Look, I have things to do, okay?"

"You're such a jerk!" Kari felt tears prick at the corners of her eyes.

"I've been told." He finished the last of his cigarette and dropped the bud to the ground. He smothered it as the front door to his house opened.

"Oh good, TK, you're home." His mother appeared in the doorway. "I need you to run to the store really quick."

He groaned. "Can't you do it?"

"No, I'm busy," she called back, stepping onto the porch. "Kari, is that you?"

"Yeah." The brunette wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. "It's me."

"Oh! It's been a while, hasn't it? The last time I saw you was before we left for France. How's your mother been?"

"She's doing alright."

"Would you like to come inside? We're making cookies. We just need the chocolate chips. TK keeps eating them all."

"Sure, I guess—"

"She's coming with me." TK cut the brown-haired girl off, grabbing onto her wrist and pulling her towards the direction he needed to go.

"Oh, alright." His mother waved. "I'll see you later then. Don't forget the sugar!"

"See you." His mother closed the door, pausing long enough for a blur of orange fly through and land on TK's head.

"What the hell, Patamon?" The blond glared up at his digimon partner—who was using his tiny paws to hold onto the blond's hair, pulling on it.

"Oh man TK—it was awful." TK sighed as Patamon shuddered. "She kept complaining about how you didn't make your bed and then started growling about the fact that you threw all of your clothes on me this morning. And she growled. She growled a lot."

"I swear Patamon, you really need to grow out of your fear of my grandmother."

"But she freaks me out!"

"Then avoid her, that's what I do."

"Okay, I'll get over my fear of your grandma when you get over your fear of—"

"Hi Patamon!"

The said digimon stopped talking, turning towards the speaker. He blinked, taking in her appearance; familiar short brown hair and familiar chocolate-brown eyes—

Wait!

He knew who that was.

Patamon leaped from the top of TK's head and landed in the brunette's arms. "Kari!" He nuzzled into her shirt, causing his next sentence to be muffled inaudibly.

"What?" Kari asked, giggling at the small creature's actions.

"I haven't seen you in _foreeeeeever!_" Patamon extended the word, lifting his head from her shirt. "At least it feels that way."

Kari giggled again at his actions. She then proceeded to follow after TK, who had started walking again when Patamon jumped off his head.

"Hey, TK?" Kari started back up a conversation, unintentionally ignoring the guinea pig-like digimon in her arms who kept rambling on about how much he had missed her.

The blond hummed in reply, still facing the same direction.

"I thought you didn't want to hang out..."

"I changed my mind," TK answered, using the same emotionless tone he had been using all day.

"Really?"

He nodded. "It was a real dick move. After all, you were only being friendly and I totally blew you off."

Kari wasn't sure if it was his emotionless expression or the fact the he continued to speak in monotone, but she wasn't able to believe what he said; she couldn't force herself to. He had seemed so intent on not hanging out with her. What changed that?

She decided to change the subject rather than question him any further. "So, you ate all the chocolate chips?"

By the smirk that rose onto his face, his mother had told the truth; he had indeed eaten all of the chocolate chips.

"I guess that means you haven't grown out of your love for sugary sweets." She giggled at the childishness of the thought. "Can you still eat half a gallon of ice-cream in one sitting?"

The blond half laughed. "It's not as easy as it used to be, but I'm sure I can still do it."

"I'm gonna go get Gatomon." Kari stopped and turned towards the house in front of her, skipping to it. "I'll be out in a minute," she called back before disappearing behind the door.

Patamon landed on TK's head again, sighing dreamily to himself. "I remember when you used to have a crush on her—"

"Hey! In my defense, I was eleven," TK justified, cutting the guinea pig-like digimon off.

"It's still funny." Patamon laughed to himself.

"I don't even like her like that anymore."

The two fell into an uncomfortable silence; each trapped in the void of their own thoughts.

Thoughts about cotton candy and butterflies.

And thoughts that made TK wince.

"What are you thinking about?" Patamon broke the silence, deciding butterflies and rainbows were boring.

"I don't know. I guess I'm just stressed." TK sighed. "Between the move, seeing everyone again, Mom not letting me near a computer." TK paused to sigh again. "I really hate being grounded..."

"It's your own fault," Patamon grumbled. "You were the one who came home wasted the night before coming back to Japan."

"That was one hell of a hangover." TK pulled out his cigarettes; it was a natural habit for him when he was irritated. Bringing one to his lips, he prepared to light it. "I hate airplanes, too."

"How many of those have you had today?" Patamon questioned, jumping off the blond's head and using his wing-like ears to hover in front if him.

"This is my forth." He flicked the lighter on, preparing to light his cig again.

"So much for cutting back..." Patamon grumbled. He then blew out the flame created from TK's lighter.

The blond relit his lighter, bringing it back to his cigarette.

Patamon blew it out again. "Put it away."

TK groaned. "Seriously, Patamon? You're seriously gonna do this _again?_"

"Yes. Yes I am going to do this because you don't need to smoke that." Patamon pointed to the thin cancer stick in his human's hand.

TK lit the lighter.

Patamon blew out the flame.

Repeat.

"You don't need it, TK."

"Fine, you win. I'll put it away." The blond pulled the box back out of his pocket, putting the cigarette and lighter back in it.

"What would your grandfather think of you if he knew you did this?"

"Drop it, Patamon."

"I'm serious TK, what would he think?" Patamon pushed further, even though he knew how much of a touchy subject this was.

"I said drop it."

"You used to look up to him. Now he's gone and look at you. You're a wreck. You're not the same."

"Drop. It." TK enunciated the words, glaring at the digimon.

"No, TK, what would he think?"

"It doesn't matter what he would think because he's dead! Patamon, he's dead!"

Patamon rested himself upon TK's head again. "I'm sorry, TK."

"Don't say you're sorry, Patamon. It doesn't matter."

"I'm sorry."

"Whatever." TK muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

"You really need to get over your thing with apologizing," Patamon griped, grabbing onto the blond's hair at his sudden head movement.

"I will when he actually means it—"

"When who means what?" Kari suddenly appeared seemingly out of nowhere, Gatomon held tightly in her arms.

"Nothing." TK went back to looking down at the sidewalk. He shoved his hands into his pocket he started walking away. "Let's get going. I have things to do later."

His tone went back to its emotionless state.

"I see what you mean by different," Gatomon whispered to Kari with a purr in her voice. "But Patamon still seems the same."

"Nah, Patamon seems more clingy than he use to be."

"I don't know why, but I find that funny." Gatomon laughed to herself.

"Are you two coming or what? We don't have all day!" TK shouted to the two; he was already a third of a block away.

"Yeah, we're coming!" the brunette called back. She started towards the blond and his digimon, jogging slightly to catch up.

And off to the store they went.

* * *

**_Sorry this chapter was so late, I meant for it to be posted a week ago. I've just had a lot going on, but I guess that's not excuse. I'm also sorry if you guys think TK is coming off a little too cold...he's gonna be like that towards Kari for a while. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed~! Be sure to tell what you thought; reviews inspire ya know.  
_**

**_To the reviews,_ Xanpluto, ultima-owner, DD Leader Dark Heart of Water, Digidestined Ninja of Sunshine, fxckingwatermelxns, Mewnnee, Slinking Fox, _and_ AUehara, _a big thank you! :D_**

_**And you faves and followers, you're amazing too! :D Thank you!**_

**EABB.**


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